Lawmakers are ripping off Pennsylvanians

Tuesday

May 14, 2013 at 12:01 AM

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he annual audit on spending by the Pennsylvania General Assembly was released recenlty with no surprises: Our state legislative body spent more than the year before, and most would agree giving us little to show for it.

Legislative spending was nearly $307 million in the fiscal year that ended in June, an $8 million increase, the Legislative Audit Advisory Commission said, according to The Associated Press. The breakdown: $178 million spent by the House, $96 million by the Senate.

The House has 203 elected members. The Senate has 50 elected members. The two chambers employ nearly 3,000 staffers, many earning six-figure salaries.

The largest legislative spending category was payroll and benefits, which cost the public $249 million last year, the AP reported.

Lawmakers did reduce the surplus a bit, a move we have encouraged in years past as an alternative to cutting programs or raising taxes.

But in reducing their savings account (known in some circles as a slush fund) to $140 million, legislators say it's as low as they can go.

Audit Commission Chairman Rep. Gordon Denlinger, R-Lancaster, told the AP that figure is right on the edge. The surplus has traditionally been defended as necessary in the event the Legislature can't agree with the governor on a budget plan. It would allow the Legislature to continue operating if a budget is not passed on time.

The control of money in the Legislature is also a perennial cause for concern. Auditors suggest the House do away with the checkbooks controlled by senior members, arguing that spending should be funneled through a central system.

Many observers think they just spend too much.

In addition to legislative salaries that begin at nearly $84,000 a year and a per-diem policy that paid out $199,000 in February alone, the cost of government includes thousands of legislative assistants, district office staff and constituent outreach specialists and a network of several hundred district offices scattered around Pennsylvania.

Legislators in their first or second terms talk of sharing office space and staff, but lawmakers with seniority and in leadership positions have well-paid staffs and spacious offices.

What are Pennsylvania taxpayers getting in return?

Not property tax reform.

Not education funding equity.

Not better schools, affordable colleges or innovative job creation.

What they do have is a $41 billion public pension liability that Gov. Tom Corbett calls a tapeworm on revenue growth. Lawmakers don't want to touch it because they take advantage of the same pension system offered to teachers and state workers.

Every year, the governor starts the budget process with a need to trim expenses. Health care for the poor, transportation funding and schools do not get as much money as needed to improve the quality of life for Pennsylvanians. And yet, our Legislature's expenses grow.